Abstract
The verification of complex engineering systems from the
very early phases of the design process is of primary
importance, as it directly influences performance and
system functionalities. Traditional design approaches aim
at using simulations as a set of tools during the
verification process. However, the current trend in the
industry is towards simulation-based design processes in
an iterative manner so as to constantly evaluate the
system development. This perspective conveys the design
process towards a verification-based design process. In
the very early phases of the design process, evaluating
different concepts for further development is not without
problems, since a certain amount of product information
is missing in the early phases. Therefore, traditional
approaches have aimed at considering expert's opinions as
the main evaluation criteria for assessing pre-concepts
and concept designs. However, qualitative-based methods
are highly limited according to expert's subjective
judgements, level of expertise, as well as the ability to
take into account multidisciplinary criteria in the case
of complex systems.
This dissertation presents research work related to the
verification-driven design process of complex mechatronic
systems using a stochastic reliability method for
evaluating the concept design from the early phases of
the product development. The main objective of this
thesis consists in demonstrating the advantages of an
innovative system design process based on a quantitative
evaluation method using reliability as the main criteria.
This thesis reviews the state of the art of the
verification and validation process, describes different
trends in the system design processes towards
simulation-based design processes and reviews the best
practices of decision-making processes in the engineering
field. The work conducted during this thesis consists of
the development and modelling of the verification-driven
design approach. The method uses the stochastic Petri Net
approach for modelling the operational and functional
sequence of the system as well as its dysfunctional
behaviour. Reliability parameters of each concept are
estimated based on their level of design and thus various
concepts can be evaluated against each other.
The method is applied to case studies that consist of the
development of a Remote Handling system for the
maintenance of a fusion reactor called DEMO. The results
confirm the benefit of such a method for designing and
evaluating the concept design from the very early phases
of the system development. The purpose of this research
is to maintain the usefulness of the findings for other
developments at a larger scale and in other fields than
fusion engineering.
Original language | English |
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Qualification | Doctor Degree |
Awarding Institution |
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Supervisors/Advisors |
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Award date | 9 Dec 2016 |
Place of Publication | Espoo |
Publisher | |
Print ISBNs | 978-951-38-8473-4 |
Electronic ISBNs | 978-951-38-8472-7 |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
MoE publication type | G5 Doctoral dissertation (article) |
Keywords
- verification and validation
- design process
- reliability
- stochastic Petri Net
- decision making process
- complex systems
- fusion engineering